This is a fan’s personal view of AFC Bournemouth from the outside looking in. It reports on the daily official activities reported by the club and comments made by individual fans on social media and fanbase websites. Life as an AFCB fan is never dull. As a life-long supporter of the Cherries, it is the friendliness of the staff, fans and my enthusiasm for the club that inspired me to write this blog.

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Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Defence is still the aspect for AFCB to work on

Watching the game against Forest last week I couldn't help but notice how often Forest players were getting caught offside. The Cherries adopted a fairly high line at times and it was a risk that Eddie Howe likes his team to take when they are pushing for a goal. I know that Henderson and Lansbury both beat the offside trap at least once to get good goal scoring opportunities, but away from home the tactic has made the Cherries a more difficult team to breakdown.

Defensive priorities

I still feel that the team has to be aware of the teams that mix up there play and give our back for the odd long ball to deal with. AFCB need to be aware that just because we play on the ground it doesn't mean other teams will all the time. I have been impressed with Francis, Ward, Cook and Harte in their ability to get the back line right on more occasions than not as it was an area that was causing AFCB big problems in earlier games this season.I am sure there is work to do but we also looked better at defending corners, while Forest did not provide many long throws. Ward and Cook are becoming particularly adept at dealing with the high ball and Cook's covering at centre back is magnificent. Cook kind of senses or smells danger these days and usually is the last man trying to save AFCB when the opposition is in on goal. It is also good to see that the Cherries are doing better in keeping the amount of free kicks against them down. Barnsley and Millwall are the only other teams in the league with a similar goal count against as AFCB and it's the only slightly disappointing thing about the Cherries play this season. Recent games though have seen some improvement in this area.

Eddie Howe speaks to BBC Radio Solent on doing the double over Stoke City

Cherries substitutions made the difference for Howe

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is full of praise for Joshua King and Lys Mousset, who both came off the bench to score as the Cherries came from behind to beat Stoke City 2-1 #afcb ��https://t.co/Z0ttI4azBx

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Blog Author

About Me

I love watching AFCB with my two sons and you'll see me at Dean Court most home games and some away ones as I am an exile, no longer living in Bournemouth. I have supported the Cherries since the late 1970s, but did not go to my first match until 1981. I am a business to business magazine journalist on an international publication. I have been a journalist since 1992 when I completed my post-graduate diploma in journalism studies at Cardiff University.